Public hearing for General Plan Amendment and Climate Action Plan Update in Oceanside.

LEGAL NOTICE PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Planning Commission of the City of Oceanside, California, will on Monday, May 18, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall Civic Center, 300 North Coast Highway, Oceanside, California, conduct a public hearing to consider the following projects. For information on attending or providing comments, please visit the City's Website at https://records.ci.oceanside.ca.us/gov/dev/planning/agendas.asp 1. Consideration of a GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT (GPA2100003) involving Phase 2 of the Comprehensive General Plan Update, Smart & Sustainable Corridors Specific Plan and Climate Action Plan Update (collectively, the Onward Oceanside Project) and associated Final Environmental Impact Report with Overriding Considerations. Project Location: The project area consists of the City of Oceanside located in northwestern San Diego County, California. The City is bounded by the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton to the north, unincorporated county of San Diego to the east, the city of Vista to the southeast, the city of Carlsbad to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The total City area is approximately 42 square miles. Project Description: The Onward Oceanside project (Project) involves the preparation of six new/updated General Plan elements, the Smart & Sustainable Corridors Specific Plan (SSCSP), and an update to the City's 2019 Climate Action Plan (CAP Update). The project constitutes Phase 2 of a comprehensive General Plan Update (GPU) , the first phase of which involved the preparation of an Economic Development Element, an Energy and Climate Action Element, and the City's first CAP. Those components of the Phase 1 GPU were adopted in 2019. The second phase of the GPU includes six new/updated General Plan elements address all statemandated general plan topic areas: Land Use, Transportation, Conservation, Open Space, military readiness activities, Safety, and Noise. These elements include policies related to additional General Plan elements such as, environmental justice, community facilities, and hazardous waste. Together, these new/updated elements establish new goals, policies, and implementation actions for the physical development of the City. The new/updated General Plan elements include: Efficient and Compatible Land Use (ECLU), Integrated Mobility (IM), Remarkable Communities (RC), Vital and Sustainable Resources (VSR), Safe and Resilient Environment (SRE), and Healthy and Livable Community (HLC). Implementation of the second phase of the GPU will involve a wide range of actions that promote sustainable and equitable growth and change. The SSCSP is a regulatory document, consistent with the goals and policies of the ECLU, that outlines strategies, standards, and processes meant to foster the revitalization of the Mission Avenue, Oceanside Boulevard, and Vista Way commercial corridors. The proposed land use framework for the SSCSP Planning Area offers an array of housing options for people at all income levels and stages of life. The nonresidential land uses are framed to support an inclusive commercial environment that provides retail and services catering to residents' daily needs while simultaneously inviting visitors from across the region. Additionally, the SSCSP seeks to facilitate consistent urban design standards and complete streets improvements within the corridors that accommodate all modes of transportation. The project includes an update to the 2019 CAP to account for the projected growth in housing and employment resulting from the GPU and SSCSP. The CAP Update is a comprehensive and adaptable plan for addressing communitywide Greenhouse Gas emissions from six key emissions sectors through the GPU planning horizon and is supportive of key State legislative targets. The CAP Update has been prepared as a qualified plan for the reduction of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in accordance with State CEQA Guidelines 15183.5. Environmental Determination: Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) of 1970 and State Guidelines thereto, the City of Oceanside acting as Lead Agency has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) in adherence of Section 15168 for the proposed project with a Statement of Overriding Considerations subject to Section 15093. The FEIR identifies that the project would result in less than significant impacts (with or without mitigation measures) to the following environmental issue areas: land use, aesthetics, agricultural resources, biological resources, cultural resources, energy, geology and soils, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, mineral resources, population and housing, transportation, and wildfire. The FEIR identifies that the project would result in significant and unavoidable impacts to air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, noise, public services, and utilities. For these issue areas, the FEIR concludes that there are no feasible mitigation measures that could reduce potentially significant impacts to a less than significant level at the program level of review. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15093, the City has determined the project's adverse unavoidable environmental impacts are outweighed by the project's benefits and has prepared a Statement of Overriding Considerations. 2. Consideration of Guidelines and Thresholds for Determining Significance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Project Description: The City of Oceanside has developed draft Thresholds of Significance for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to evaluate the environmental impact of future development projects under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Section 15064.7. The Threshold of significance is an identifiable quantitative, qualitative or performance level consistency with the Climate Action Plan (CAP) Update. To assist in the determination of project consistency with the CAP Update, Guidelines for Determining Significance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions have been developed to assist project applicants and staff in the review process. Under CEQA, proposed project would have a less than significant cumulatively considerable contribution to climate change impacts if it is found to be consistent with the City's Climate Action Plan; and, would normally have a cumulatively considerable contribution to climate change impacts if it is found to be inconsistent with the City's Climate Action Plan. Projects can demonstrate consistency with the CAP through completion of a CAP Consistency Checklist, demonstrating project emissions meet GHG emissions efficiency thresholds, or a combination thereof, as outlined in the Guidelines. Environmental Determination: Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) of 1970 and State Guidelines thereto, the City of Oceanside acting as Lead Agency has determined that the project is exempt from CEQA per Article 18, Section 15308 of the CEQA Guidelines, as it constitutes an action taken by a regulatory agency for the protection of the environment. If you should wish to challenge either of these projects in court, at some future time, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in the notice or in written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at or prior to the public hearing. Copies of the environmental documents are available at the Planning Division at the Civic Center, 300 North Coast Highway during regular working office hours 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Fridays or on the City website at: https://www.ci.oceanside.ca.us/government/developmentservices/planning/environmentaldocumentsceqa Written comments may be submitted at the above address prior to the hearing and will be made part of the public record and provided to the Planning Commission. For further information on the above hearings, contact the Planning Division at the Civic Center,300 North Coast Highway or telephone (760) 4353520. Dated: April 29, 2026 Published: May 3, 2026 OCEANSIDE PLANNING COMMISSION San Diego UnionTribune Published: 5/3/26